Backup Support
by Scyphi
Summary: Hacker is planning something, something that could threaten Cyberspace's continued existence. However, Matt, Jackie, and Inez have gone missing, and Digit can't handle it alone. But Motherboard already has a backup plan...
1. Sieged

Summary: Hacker is planning something, something that could threaten Cyberspace's continued existence. However, Matt, Jackie, and Inez have gone missing, and Digit can't handle alone. But Motherboard already has a backup plan...

Rating: K+ (to be safe)

Like fan-fics past, this goes in chronological order with the others I've written. I guess you can consider them a series, since they all take place after the last one. This one has already made refence to two of them, in fact (Mishap and The Time Traveler) but probably won't venture beyond that. Unlike Mishap, which is all comedy, this will be a more serious fan-fic.

CYBERCHASE

BACKUP SUPPORT

1.

Sieged

With a swirl of pinkish light and a thump, Matt, Jackie, and Inez arrived in Control Central. Immediately they began assessing the situation. Digit, their cybird friend, was pacing the floor, Motherboard, leader of Cyberspace, had a look of concern, and Dr. Marbles, who was Motherboard's mechanic and technician, looked both concerned and impatient.

"Good, you're here." Marbles said when the kids from Earth arrived.

"What's up?" Jackie asked.

"It's Hacker." Digit replied. "He's at it again."

Inez rolled her eyes. "When isn't he?" she asked sarcastically. "I mean, we just stopped him from using his makeshift Transformitron earlier this week."

"This time I'm afraid it's a bit more serious than that." Motherboard answered, her screen flickering slightly. She had been all but cured of the virus thanks to a spare Encryptor chip that had been found, but the few remaining traces of it still lingered to wreak the occasional havoc with her systems. "Hacker has cybersite Pompedoria under siege."

"What? How?" Matt asked, alarmed.

"That's just it, we don't know!" Digit cried out angrily, still pacing.

"By all accounts, he's simply present at the site." Marbles explained. "The Wreaker is in orbit, and he's somewhere on the site, but by all accounts, the threat that presents is not quite that enormous."

"Can't you call the site and ask what's happening?" Jackie asked.

"No." Motherboard answered. "We lost communications with the site over an hour ago. This is what alerted us to the situation."

"How do you know that Hacker has Pompedoria under siege, then?" Matt asked.

"Hacker sent the usual cyber-mail bragging that he had, and that if we didn't give what he wanted, we'd regret it." Digit replied

"What does he want?" Inez asked.

"The usual." Digit answered. "Complete and total control over Cyberspace."

"Surprise, surprise." Inez muttered.

"What worries me is that fact that Hacker didn't explain what he intends to do if we don't give him what he wants." Marbles thought aloud. "Whatever it is, he said we'd regret it."

"Maybe he's bluffing." Matt suggested.

"Maybe." Motherboard agreed. "Which is why I'm sending you three to go find out."

Another portal opened nearby the kids. They turned and started through it.

"You coming Didge?" Matt asked, holding up for a moment.

"He'll be along later." Marbels explained. "The virus has shut down Motherboard's filewall. I will need Digit's help to bring it back online."

"Once that's done, I'll be right there to help you guys." Digit concluded.

"Gotcha." Matt said. "See you then."

Then he stepped through the portal. After a brief and wild ride, he arrived on the outskirts of Pompedoria's capital city with his friends. After explaining why Digit wasn't here, they worked on their plan of action.

"I suppose if we want to find anything out, we'll need to figure out where Hacker is and what he's doing." Jackie proposed.

"Good idea." Inez agreed. "And if he really does have this site under siege, he'd most likely be in the capital city."

"Okay, then let's go!" Jackie said, starting to stand up and leave.

"Wait Jackie!" Matt interrupted. "We can't just go waltzing in there, not when Hacker's going to be on the lookout for us!"

Jackie skidded to a halt. "What do you propose we do then?" she asked, slightly annoyed for the holdup.

"We need disguises." Matt said, reaching into his backpack and pulling out three furry wigs of various colors, each with a set of antennae sticking out. "Good thing I hung onto these."

He distributed them out, and they all put them on, making themselves look like super-tall Pompedorians.

"I hate these things." Jackie muttered, scratching at hers, "They're so itchy!"

"The sooner we get this mission done, the sooner we can loose 'em, Jax." Inez said reassuringly, as they set off for the city.

Halfway there, they stopped.

"You guys hear something?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, I do." Jackie replied, cupping one sound over her ear. "It sounds like some sort of machine."

Curious, they began to wander towards the sound. Pulling aside some bushes, they saw a river, and a very large contraption that sat next to it. Delete, one of Hacker's two robotic henchmen was sitting in a chair operating the contraption's controls.

"Now what do you think that is?" Inez asked softly.

"I don't know, but it's connected to the site itself, see?" Matt said pointing at some large pipes that stuck into the ground.

"Do you think Hacker's trying to steal Pompedoria's power?" Jackie asked.

"If so, then why lay siege to the site?" Inez asked. "It doesn't add up."

"So what _is _Hacker up to?" Matt asked.

Suddenly a shadow was cast over them, and they looked up to see the source.

"I vote we discuss this later, and RUN!" Inez yelled as they saw the Grim Wreaker come to hover over them.

They all started running in different directions, but not fast enough as a net dropped out of the Wreaker and descended down upon them...


	2. Revelations

2.

Revelation

"Hand me that power coupling please Digit." Dr. Marbles requested, laying on his back under Motherboard's control panel.

Digit turned to the table they had been placing parts on. "Which one is that again?" he asked after a moment's hesitation.

"The one I just handed you two minutes ago, Digit!" Marbles answered, annoyed.

"Oh." Digit said, reaching for one device, stopping, then pulling back, looking over the array of devices once more. "I didn't really look at it, so..." he said, trailing off and sounding embarrassed.

With an exasperated sigh, Marbles pulled himself out from under the control panel and walked over to the table. "That one." he said instantly, and picking it up to take back to the control panel himself.

"Sorry doc." Digit said. "I guess I'm just a little distracted is all."

"Mm-hmm." Marbles muttered as he got back to work.

"I just find it hard to believe that Hacker's out there wreaking havoc on Cyberspace, and I'm stuck here doing routine repairs." Digit said, sitting down to watch the good doctor work. "I want to be out there with the Earthlings, helping."

"You _are _helping, Digit." Marbles said, "I hardly consider repairing Motherboard's filewall not more important. If Hacker discovers that it's down..."

"I know, I know, he'll take full advantage of it." Digit said. "But it's clear he's busy elsewhere, and it's unlikely he's not going to be looking in this direction anytime soon."

"This is probably true." Marbles admitted. "But Hacker isn't the only danger out there in Cyberspace. Trust me Digit, you're not doing nothing here. And, the sooner we get this done, the sooner you can go help Matt, Jackie, and Inez."

Silence fell for a moment while Marbles worked and Digit watched.

"Doc, what do you think Hacker wants on Pompedoria?" Digit asked after a few moments.

"Their energy supply, obviously." Marbles replied. "With it, it'd give him the advantage he so desperately needs."

"Yes, but that's just it." Digit said. "Hacker _has_ tried to get that power before, and he _failed_ each time. He know he can't steal it, he can't trick his way into inheriting it...Doc, I seriously doubt he's there just for the power."

"But I can't think of anything else Hacker would be after on that site that we know about." Marbles said, stopping to look at Digit.

Digit thought it through for a few moments. "Maybe he's trying to get the energy directly from the site." he suggested. "Could he?"

"In theory, I suppose so." Marbles admitted. "The site's buildings and various technology is powered by the same energy, Hacker could tap into that supply. The problem is that I can't see that giving enough power for Hacker's needs or wants."

"Couldn't he tap into the main energy line itself and have access to all of it?" Digit proposed.

Marbles shook his head. "That's all _raw _energy. It has to be refined first before it can be used, and Hacker doesn't have the supplies to do it unless he had someway to contain it until he could reach the Northern Frontier."

"And so far as we know, he doesn't." Digit said, then asked thoughtfully, "Why does the energy have to be refined first?"

"Because it's too powerful and unstable to be used in any other way." Marbles replied. "It'd more likely destroy the item it's powering up, than anything."

Digit stared at the doctor for a few moments. "How destructive is that energy?" he asked slowly.

"It depends on how much you have." Marbles replied. "At most, probably a explosion big enough to destroy a small building."

"Anyway to get the bang bigger?" Digit asked next. "Like big enough to destroy a cybersite?"

"Not really." Marble admitted, giving Digit an odd look. "In order to do it, you'd have to ignite all of...the...energy...at...once..."

He trailed off, staring at Digit, who stared back.

"Could he do it?" Digit asked, alarmed.

"He'd have to give his ship a super power boost first, but it's well within his capabilities." Marbles replied, equally alarmed.

They stared at each other for a moment longer, then made a wild dash for the communications console. Marbles reached it first, and he began punching at the controls wildly, until he had a channel open.

"Matt, Jackie, Inez, anyone there?" Marbles asked into the microphone urgently. "Listen, we have reason to believe that Hacker plans to ignite _all_ of the energy on Pompedoria, which would make an explosion big enough to destroy the site, if not more. Repeat, Hacker is going to destroy that _entire _site, you need to stop him, _now!_ Do you copy?"

But all that answered Marbles was quiet static...


	3. The Dilemma

3.

The Dilemma

"Matt, Jackie, Inez, anybody, come in!" Marbles repeated urgently. Again all that answered was static. "Cybersquad, please report!"

Motherboard watched the good doctor, having been awakened out of sleep mode. "Any chance that they are simply out of range?" she asked.

Marbles bowed his head, turning off the speaker. "None." he said.

"Something must have happened then." Digit said. "Hacker, maybe?"

"There's no way to tell." Marbles replied. "But considering the situation, I'd say that's a safe bet."

"So the Cybersquad is being held prisoner by Hacker." Motherboard recapped.

"So it would seem." Marbles admitted. "This complicates things quite a bit."

"What are we going to do?" Digit asked. "We can't just stand by and do nothing."

"There's nothing more than that we can do, Digit." Marbles said. "I honestly can't see anyway to save them and stop Hacker at the same time. We try to save the kids and Hacker will simply blow the site in retaliation. We try and stop him from blowing up the site, and he'll most likely...kill...the kids."

"Kill?" Digit repeated, with a gulp.

"Hacker knows how valuable they are." Motherboard said. "That's why he captured them in the first place. And with his mental state being as questionable as it is right now, he will stop at nothing to get what he wants."

"The kids are leverage to get what he wants, and he knows it." Marbles continued. "He knows that none of us will want to do anything to hurt the kids, and he's using that against us."

"But it looks like that so far it's a no-win scenario." Digit said. "Either way, we lose."

"Not unless we give Hacker what he wants most." Marbles said.

"Control of Cyberspace." Motherboard mused.

"...which is out of the question." Digit added.

"That might not be an option anymore Digit." Motherboard said.

"You're not actually thinking about giving Hacker control of Cyberspace, are you?" Digit asked, bewildered.

"In this kind of situation, we have to consider _all_ of the possibilities, Digit." Marbles explained. "We can't afford not to."

"So, back to my original question." Digit said, getting frustrated. "What are we going to do?"

"At this point, nothing." Marbles replied.

"Nothing!" Digit exclaimed.

"Yes, nothing!" Marbles repeated. "Hacker holds all of the cards at the moment!"

"That's never stopped us before!" Digit pointed out.

"Yes, but we had the kids there to help us those other times." Motherboard pointed out.

"And right now Hacker has the Cybersquad." Marbles added.

"But not all of it!" Digit said, hopping up. "There's still me! I'll do something!"

"You _can't_ Digit!" Marbles interjected. "Not alone! Hacker will only grab you too, and then where will we be?"

"Then you can come help me!" Digit proposed to Marbles.

"I can't do that either!" Marbles stated angrily. "If for so much as a second Hacker sees that Control Central is completely unguarded, he'll rush over and take it for himself. I _need_ to be here!"

"Then _Motherboard_ can help me!" Digit insisted, determined not to back down.

"Digit, not even I can do everything." Motherboard said. "This is one of them. You need someone else's help."

"Which brings us, yet again, back to my original question!" Digit exclaimed. "_What are we going to do?_"

"Get help!" Marbles exclaimed back. "Satisfied?"

"Yes!" Digit exclaimed. "That gives us someplace to start! Now, who can help us?"

He looked at Marbles, who shrugged. He didn't know. Digit thought it over for a moment, and saw that he didn't either, at least no one who could be as completely useful as the earthlings.

Motherboard saw this, and came to a decision. "I believe I can shed some light on that question." she announced.


	4. Backup Support

Now we're starting to get to the key part of the story. Events in my past fanfic "Parallelism" are referenced to. If you haven't read it...well, it's not imparitive that you do, but hey, can't hurt to self-advertise here. : P

Anyway, please R&R.

4.

Backup Support

"What do you mean, Motherboard?" Marbles inquired, curious.

"Do you recall, that before even we first brought the kids Cyberspace, that I was tracking their every movement, just in case such a situation like now arose?" Motherboard asked.

"I remember that the Doc was pretty mad at you for not sharing this until _after_ you brought the kiddies into Cyberspace." Digit offered. "And boy, was he mad. I mean, I've seen the Doc get mad before, but this time..."

"Yes, I remember." Marbles interrupted, annoyed. "Why do you ask?"

"I ask because Matt, Jackie, and Inez, are not the only Earthlings I've kept track of." Motherboard replied.

It took a moment for the full meaning of this statement to sink in.

"Wait," Digit said finally, "Are you saying that there are other Earthlings we can bring into Cyberspace?"

Motherboard simply nodded.

"Why?" Marbles asked.

"In case such a situation that we could not turn to the kids for their help, like the situation we find ourselves in now." Motherboard replied. "I believe that they are very good candidates for the job, for they have at least met one of the kids before, and at least know who they are."

"But is that really all we need?" Marbles asked. "Shouldn't we at least make sure that they have other skills that they might needs in order to take on the mission?"

"And if we do this," Digit began, "It'll mean revealing the existence of Cyberspace to yet another group of kids. We know that this is risky business, because if word were to leak out, who knows what could happen? Remember that time Matt and Inez accidently got teleported into an alternate reality where just such a situation _did_ happen? And what was the end result? A catastrophic war that will inevitably wipe out both the Real World and Cyberspace!"

"We agreed to prevent such a situation from reoccurring." Marbles added, concurring with Digit. "Is it worth the risk? I mean, the kids have gotten captured by Hacker before and have escaped and saved the day in the end, do we really need to turn to such desperate actions?"

"This situation is different." Motherboard said. "The longevity of a cybersite is at risk here, and time is short, possibly shorter than we think."

"But...isn't there someone else, right here in cyberspace, that we could turn to instead?" Marbles stuttered. "Slider, or some other friend of the Cybersquad's?"

"I've already considered this possibility." Motherboard replied. "And everyone who could help is either cannot be contacted or otherwise indisposed."

"Okay, but what if these new kids only get captured too?" Digit asked. "Are we just going to keep bringing more and more in until the job gets done?"

"By that point, I predict it would be too late to do anything more." Motherboard replied.

Digit gave a sigh of defeat and turned to Marbles, who did likewise.

"If we are going to do this, now is the time." Motherboard said. "Currently, they are all togther in one spot, but I do not know how much longer it will remain that way."

Digit sighed once more and nodded his head in agreement. Marbles hesitated a moment longer, before giving his consent as well.

"Very well." he said. "Bring them in."

* * *

"This is taking too long." Peter complained again. "The lunch break is going to be ending any moment now."

"Look, I cannot make this computer go any faster than it already is." replied Lara, typing commands into the computer in question. "It's your own fault that you forgot to bring the papers this morning."

"Arguing over this project isn't going to get it done any faster." Alex suddenly interrupted, sitting at an neighboring computer, half-heartedly wishing he could use it somehow to aid in the process.

The three were involved in a project for their history class, but because of various problems they ran into, they were very behind, and the due date for the project was coming frighteningly closer with each passing moment. Peter was to bring in the last of the stuff they needed to finish their presentation on the computer that morning, but arrived late and never had the chance. Now they were trying to make amends during their lunch break, when the computer lab would be empty and available. But they had help, or least, they _should_ have help on the way, at any rate.

"Where is Inez?" Lara asked again, checking her watch. "She said she'd come straight here to help out."

"Perhaps she had other things to worry about." Alex proposed. "I mean, she does have her own project to worry about, the one she's doing with her own friends, Jackie, and whats-his name...er...Matt."

"No, she told me they were done." Lara persisted. "Besides, she's better at this kind of thing anyway, and she knows it. Maybe she went to get her friends, so that they all could help. I mean, they seem to do everything together anyway."

"I sure hope not." Peter suddenly spoke up, from where he stood behind Lara's chair. "I've met Matt, there's something odd about him."

"You know, there's something odd about the whole group of them." Alex said. "I mean, a few years ago, they hardly knew each other, and then, almost overnight, they were inseparable."

"And now they talk to each other in secret, quickly changing the subject when someone else gets too close." Peter added. "It's like they know something we don't."

"Well, I happen to know Inez very, very, well." Lara said, punctuating her sentence with a sharp tap of the enter key. "She wouldn't keep anything from me."

"Yes, well, we only have you word on that." Peter said. "Me and Alex don't know any of them as well as you do."

"Well, they aren't all that different from us actually." Lara admitted. "They were thrown together by sheer chance it seems, meeting up accidently in the city museum. Like us, not really knowing each other until we were thrown together for this project."

"Well, we know each others names, and who we all are." Alex said. "But, yeah, beyond that I guess you're right."

"Anyway, getting back to the subject on hand." Peter interrupted, checking the time once again. "How much closer are we to completing this..."

But he was cut off when the computer screen suddenly shut off.

"What the...?" Lara said, trying to get the screen to kick back in.

"Oh, of all the luck." Peter groaned, slumping back against the row of computers behind him. "Perfect time for the computer to break."

But then the computer turned back on, but instead of the familiar program they had open while they worked on their project, it had been replaced by a very foreign, almost alien, yet friendly, computer generated face.

The three stared at the face.

"Hello." the face, which was female, said. "I am Motherboard."


	5. The Proposal

Action's starting to build some more, enjoy :)

5.

The Proposal

For several long moments, the three were in a stunned silence, staring at the unfamiliar face on the computer screen.

"Alex." Lara finally said. "Isn't the word 'motherboard' the name of a computer part?"

"Uh...yeah, it is." Alex replied after a momentary pause.

"Good." Lara said, relaxing. "Then this must be some kind of practical joke then."

"I'm afraid not." Motherboard said, her face on the computer screen turning to face Lara. "In fact, this is a matter of great importance."

"Like, how important?" Peter asked.

"Important enough that lives hang in the balance." Motherboard replied.

"Lives?" Alex asked. "What are you, CIA?"

"Not quite." Motherboard admitted. "No such organization exists in Cyberspace."

Lara laughed, despite the situation. "I'm sorry," she said, in-between chuckles, "But did you just say Cyberspace?"

"I did." Motherboard confirmed. "It is where I am from."

Peter snorted. "So your saying that you're a computer program." he said.

"In a sense, yes." Motherboard said. "Only much, much, much more complicated and advanced."

"How advanced?" Peter asked.

"Advanced enough that even all of the computers on Earth working together could not match." Motherboard replied.

Alex whistled in amazement. "But what do you need all of that processing power for?" he asked.

"It is needed in order for me to lead Cyberspace." Motherboard said.

"So, wait, you control Cyberspace?" Lara asked.

"In a sense."

"But what is there to control?" Alex asked, puzzled. "All Cyberspace really is, is raw information going from one point to another, right?"

"No." Motherboard said, to the three's surprise. "But it is understandable that you would think that. Very few on Earth truly understand Cyberspace's true potential."

"Very few?" Lara asked. "Then who's that few?"

"There are three of which you know already." Motherboard said.

"Really." Peter asked, indignantly, having his doubts.

"They're names are Matt, Jackie, and Inez."

Suddenly, Motherboard had the three's undivided attention.

"You know them?" Lara asked. "How?"

"They have helped Cyberspace a great many times." Motherboard replied. "Which is why I am here now. All is not well in Cyberspace, and we need your help."

"Our help?" Alex asked. "What makes you think we can help?"

"And what about Inez and her friends?" Lara asked. "You just said that they've helped you several times."

"That is just it." Motherboard said. "They have been captured by the enemy."

Lara and Alex looked at one another, while Peter rolled his eyes behind them.

"Enemy?" Alex finally dared to ask.

"Yes." Motherboard replied. "Hacker."

Peter suddenly burst out laughing. "I simply cannot take you seriously with all of these silly names your coming up with!" he declared, not holding back in amusement and disbelief. "Look, I don't know who you are, but you're not fooling me! I'm not believing a shred of this!"

"But..." Lara began, turning to Peter. "She needs our help."

"Do you really believe that?" Peter asked, bewildered. "This is probably just some sick person's idea of a joke! I mean, how can she, even if she _is _a she, prove any of this? No one can see Cyberspace and see if she's right!"

Both Alex and Lara looked surprised at Peter's outburst, and Motherboard seemed slightly offended, but did not pursue that matter.

"Actually," Motherboard chose to address instead, "You can."

"Yeah?" Peter challenged, "Prove it!"

He immediately regretted saying it.

The screen suddenly went into a fury of static, and went dark. Then, it emitted a beam of pink energy, twisting into a spiral, and began to spin, fast enough that it became a blur. In a blink of an eye, a swirling, pink, portal was formed. The three kids and just enough time to gape in surprise, awe, and, in Peter's case, horror, before all three were sucked inside the portal and were gone...


	6. Cyberspace

Exploring one's reaction when they arrive in cyberspace for the first time here. I personally think this is how Matt, Jackie, and Inez would've reacted had the show done that. (but they only have so much time to an episdoe, so...)

6.

Cyberspace

The three kids lost all of their orientation until they exited the portal again with a hard thud onto a hard tile floor. Regaining control of their overwhelmed senses, they began to take in their surroundings. And they began to realize just what happened.

"Okay..." Lara said, in shock as she looked around Control Central. "We aren't in Kansas anymore."

"You _think_?" Peter asked, sounding well beyond annoyed.

Alex had his eyes planted on the large computer screen that hung above them, where Motherboard's face looked back down upon them.

"Welcome to Cyberspace." Motherboard said.

This awed the kids.

"You mean we're actually _there?_" Alex asked, amazed.

Lara looked out the glass dome that made the room's ceiling at the vast green space that was the known cybergalaxy. "Sure isn't what I expected." she admitted. "It looks more like real space."

"Only with a twist." Alex added.

Peter looked pale. "I think I need to sit down." he announced weakly.

"Here, sit in this." a voice said as a chair was pushed towards Peter.

"Thanks." Peter said automatically as he promptly lowered himself into the chair. He froze suddenly, as he realized who it was that presented the chair.

"I'm Dr. Marbles." the cyborg said, and trying to be polite, held out his hand for Peter to shake.

Peter instead recoiled in fear, pushing the chair backwards until it bumped into the railing that surrounded the platform they stood upon.

"Whoa!" Alex exclaimed, seeing Marbles and began circling around and around him in awe, to Marbles annoyance. "There's actually _life _here?"

"Yes, yes, yes, there's always has been." Marbles replied hotly, stopping Alex from continuing to circle him. "Cyberspace is not unlike your own dimension."

"Only way, way, more advanced." Lara said, backing up as she tried to take it all in at once. This was how she inadvertently bumped into Digit.

"Yoikes!" Digit exclaimed as Lara toppled over him. Quickly the two untangled themselves from each other.

"Whoa!" Lara exclaimed, getting a good look at Digit. "What _are_ you?"

"Uh, a cybird." Digit replied hesitantly. He didn't remember Matt, Jackie, and Inez reacting quite like this when they first arrived in Cyberspace, but of course, that was awhile ago, and they _were _kind of forced to set aside their questions in the interest of saving the day.

Speaking of which...

"Um, Mother B, shouldn't we get back to the subject of _why_ we brought these guys here?" Digit asked.

"I was just about to, Digit, thank you." Motherboard replied politely.

"Digit?" Peter repeated, frowning. "What's with you people and names?"

"Peter, don't insult them." Alex quickly intervened. "We're in a totally different universe now. They're bound to do things differently here."

"Does the reason why we're here go back to your enemy that you spoke of earlier?" Lara asked curiously, going back to the original subject.

"Who also had a really stupid name, I might add." Peter suddenly spoke up.

"Peter!" Alex said, annoyed.

"To answer Lara's question, yes." Motherboard said.

"Wait, you know our names?" Alex asked.

"Yes." Motherboard replied simply. "Alex, Peter, and Lara."

"She's really good with names." Digit explained, standing next to an awestruck Lara.

"So, you said you needed our help." Alex said, taking control of the conversation. "How so?"

"The enemy I spoke of, Hacker," Motherboard began, ignoring Peter's snickers at the mention of Hacker's name, "has taken control of a cybersite called Pompedoria."

"Cybersite?" Lara said, turning the foreign word over in her head.

"Think of it as like planets in your world only smaller." Digit explained. "That's how Inez always compared it, anyway."

"In this case, Hacker is threatening to destroy the site if we don't give him complete control of cyberspace." Motherboard continued with her explanation. "Which is out of question, because if we did, there would not be a Cyberspace to speak of anymore. We need your help to stop him.

"Wait, how do Matt, Jackie, and Inez fit into all of this?" Alex asked.

"They were sent on a similar mission, but Hacker managed to capture them." Motherboard explained.

"I suspect it was a trap." Marbles added. "For Hacker, having the kids would be an added bonus for his cause."

"So, simply put, we're Matt, Jackie, and Inez's replacements." Alex said.

"Yes." Motherboard replied. "Fortunately, we have never needed your services until now."

Peter was still thinking the mission over. "So, if we don't stop this Hacker guy, he'll destroy that cybersite, Pompe-whatever?"

"Correct." Motherboard replied. "He intends to set of a chain reaction that will create an explosion large enough to potentially disintegrate most of the cybersite."

"Wait, doesn't Cyberspace tie in with our world to some extent?" Alex asked. "I mean, with computers and all, wouldn't that..."

"In short, yes." Marbles interrupted. "To a limited extent."

"So if this cybersite should, heaven forbid, do blow up, wouldn't that affect our world?" Lara asked.

"There will be minor repercussions in the Real World, yes." Motherboard replied. "But significantly smaller in comparison. Most likely no one in the Real World would notice."

"Then why should we even help you at all?" Peter asked suddenly. "I mean, if it doesn't affect us, it's not our problem, right? Why are we even getting _involved_?"

"Because," Motherboard said, "at the moment, you are our only hope."


	7. Agreement

7.

Agreement

"Why not just forget the site?" Peter asked. "I mean, if cybersites really are like planets, then there must be tons of them. Surely the one site is expendable, right? Just move the people somewhere else."

"Unfortunately, it's not that simple." Motherboard answered. "Pompedoria is a more primitive culture. They do not have many cybercraft to use to evacuate. We would have to provide them, and there is simply not enough time to do so."

"Not only that, but Hacker has the site under siege." Marbles added. "He would not permit any craft to land on or take off from Pompedoria."

"So just letting the site go wouldn't work." Lara summarized for Peter. "Everyone on the site would die when it blows."

"Plus maybe even Matt, Jackie, and Inez." Alex added. "If that's not reason enough to get involved in this, I don't know what is."

"Personally, I could care less." Peter said, persistent that he was not going to get involved. "It's not _my _life on the line."

"How could you be so selfish?" Lara asked, disgusted at Peter's attitude. "How can you so calmly doom hundreds of people to their deaths?"

"They're not _people!_" Peter exclaimed. "They're nothing more than a bunch of...things...that for all we know could be the mere by-products of Cyberspace!"

"But they live." Alex said. "And that's close enough a definition for any book."

Silence broke out, which the Motherboard, Marbles, and Digit dare not break. This was something the earthlings had to resolve.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm in." Alex said, holding out one hand. "Cyberspace or not, I'm not about to just stand aside and let this disaster happen."

Lara hesitated too, then placed her hand on top of Alex's. "I'm in this too." she said. "Inez is my friend, and her life is at stake. The least I can do is try and save it."

They all looked at Peter.

"Well, I'm certainly not going to get involved." he said to retort their expectant glares.

"You don't have much choice." Alex persisted. "We out vote you."

"So what?" Peter asked.

"Everything." Alex asked. "We'll _drag_ you into this if we must."

Peter still seemed very reluctant.

"It's not like you can just leave anyway." Digit ventured to add. "Motherboard is the only who can send you back."

"Besides, once we do this, we can go back to our regular lives." Alex added. "Right Motherboard?"

"Correct, assuming you succeed." Motherboard answered.

"'assuming you succeed', yeah, right..." Peter muttered.

"Once Matt, Jackie, and Inez are rescued, there should be little need for your services again." Motherboard said. "Besides, if you so wish it, Peter, I will not bring you into Cyberspace again if you don't wish it."

"I don't."

"Then do this one thing and you'll have your wish."

Peter stared defiantly at Motherboard, and for a moment looked like he was going to back down regardless. But then he placed his hand on top of the others.

"Agreed." Peter said finally. "I'll go along with this for now."

"Right." Alex said decisively, then turned to Motherboard. "What do we need to do?"

"It's simple." Motherboard said. "Simply find out how Hacker intends to destroy the site and disable it. Also find and rescue Matt, Jackie, and Inez. Also, do not fall for Hacker's trap."

"Though Hacker doesn't expect you to arrive, so it's doubtful it'd be set up again." Marbles provided for added assurance.

"We must act quickly." Motherboard said. "Time is short."

"How short?" Lara asked.

"We don't know." Motherboard replied.

"Oh, great." Peter bemoaned.

"Here." Digit said, stepping forward and handing out a SKWAK pad to each of the earthlings, who studied them with awe. "This is how we can keep in touch."

"'We?'" Peter repeated questioningly.

"I'm going with." Digit said, then turned to Marbles, "And don't try to stop me!"

"I have no intention to." Marbles replied calmly.

"Um, question!" Lara suddenly said, getting everyone's attention. "Just how are we going to get to this Pompedoria place?"

"By portal." Motherboard replied, closing her eyes to concentrate on opening one.

"You mean that thing that brought us here?" Peter asked.

The portal opened up in front of him, and sucked him in.

"Yes...it...is!" he managed exclaim before he vanished.

The other kids and Digit looked at one another, then stepped into the portal to be wisked away to the sieged cybersite...


	8. Investigation

Enough talk, lets get on with it. :) Events in "Parallelism" are referenced to, and a minor connection with this story and "The Time Traveler" is made. (hint: think Cyantis!) Anyway, enjoy:)

8.

Investigation

They all landed on the outskirts of Pompedoria in a heap.

"Ow." Lara bemoaned, picking herself up. "That's one heck of a way to travel."

"Please tell me we're not going to make a habit of using those things though." Peter complained, rubbing his back. "I think I nearly had by spine telescope on me in that landing."

"Don't worry, portals are only used to go from site to site." Digit said, pulling out a set of binoculars from his chest compartment and studying the area around them with them. "We shouldn't be leaving this site anytime soon, so..."

"Gotcha." Alex said, cutting off whatever remark Peter was about to say. "Where to from here?"

"We look around, try to figure out just what Hacker plans to do." Digit said, putting away the binoculars. "Then, we stop him."

"Some plan." Peter remarked, annoyed.

"We'll make it up as we go." Digit assured him. "Always seems to have worked in the past." Peter opened his mouth to say something, looking slightly surprised at that statement, but Alex quickly clamped it shut again as Digit continued. "The area's all clear. I think our best bet would be to go towards town. Most likely that's where Hacker would be."

They started walking forward.

"You sure it's a good idea to head _towards_ the bad guy?" Lara asked hesitantly.

"I'm hoping we'll find a lead long before we get to that point." Digit answered.

They continued walking.

"Just how far away is this town?" Peter suddenly thought to ask.

Digit shrugged. "I dunno, a few dozen cybermeters?" he replied.

"How long is a cybermeter?" Alex asked.

"About the same length as one of your Real World meters, I think." Digit replied.

"And how long is _that_?" Peter asked. "I don't know a thing about the metric system."

"In short, it means we have a very long walk ahead of us." Alex explained, picturing the distance in his mind. "Roughly about forty or more meters to cover."

Peter sighed. "Great." he mumbled.

They walked persistently onward, though. Several long moments of silence passed, and finally, Digit decided it was time to break it.

"So, how do you guys know Matt, Jackie, and Inez?" he asked.

"Who said we did?" Peter asked grudgingly.

"Motherboard mentioned that you guys did." Digit explained.

"Well, I know Inez, because me and my foster parents live in the apartment under her." Lara provided.

"I know Inez because I know Lara." Alex went on to explain. "And it was through that link that I briefly know Jackie. Haven't really met Matt though, other than the occasional "hi" while passing in the hallway."

"What about you, Peter?" Digit asked.

"I don't really know any of them." he replied. "I just know that Jackie and Inez are friends of Matt, and that I thought Matt was kinda creepy, because he was always going around like he had something to hide."

"And he did." Lara pointed, then gestured to the cybersite. "All of this."

"I don't get that." Alex remarked. "Why did they keep Cyberspace's existence a secret?"

Digit sighed. "There's a very logical explanation for that." he said.

"Which is?" Peter asked.

"You guys heard of alternate realities?" Digit asked.

"Sure, universes identical to our own, but varying in various different ways." Alex answered. "I haven't seen a sci-fi show yet that didn't explore the idea at least once."

"Well, Matt and Inez once got stranded in one for awhile." Digit said.

"Really?" Lara asked. "Cool!"

"No, not cool." Digit corrected. "Because in that universe, Cyberspace _wasn't_ kept a secret. And as it turned out, that was a major problem."

"How can that be a problem?" Lara asked.

"Because the Real World and Cyberspace didn't trust each other, each other trying to have control over the other and the stuff they had. The end result is a deadly civil war that is still going on today if they haven't wiped each out yet." Digit concluded.

"Yikes." Peter said, and he genuinely meant it.

"So you've been keeping it a secret in fear that the same thing could happen here?" Alex asked.

"Yep." Digit replied.

They continued walking. Soon they were approaching the capital city of Pompedoria.

"Hey, look, we're almost there!" Lara exclaimed, pointing at the top of a tower that poked up over the canopy of trees.

"Yay." Peter said unenthusiastically. "I'm tired of this tromping around."

"Could be worse, Peter." Alex pointed out. "You could be running for your life. Or..."

"Shush." Digit suddenly exclaimed. "You guys hear something?"

They all stopped and listened. Soon they all could here the sound of throbbing machinery.

"It's coming from that direction." Alex said finally, pointing.

Very carefully, Digit started forward towards the sound. Following his example, the kids followed. Pulling aside some shrubbery, they saw a river, and on the opposite bank from them, was a very large machine, part of it attached to the ground surrounding it. No one seemed to be near it.

"What is that thing?" Alex asked, squinting his eyes at it.

"That can't be right." Digit said, looking at the machine curiously. He pulled out his SKWAK pad, switching it on. "Doc, come in doc."

"Marbles here." came the reply.

"We've found what could be the machine capable of triggering that explosion." Digit explained. "Only know that I'm looking at it, I realized something."

"And what's that?" Marbles asked.

"That the machine is Cyantian in design."


	9. Splitting Up

And another chapter. This might actually be the first Cyberchase fanfic I've written that might break the twelve-chapter barrier the others have had, because I still have a bit to cover, and I can't picture it all fitting in three chapters. :p Anyway, enjoy!

9.

Splitting Up

"Cyantian?" Marbles repeated from his end. "That can't be. It'd mean that..."

"Yes, that Hacker's been to Cyantis, and learned a thing or two." Digit replied gravely. "Despite our security measures to keep him out."

"What's Cyantis?" Alex asked.

"A very special cybersite." Digit replied. "The former home of the Founders of Cyberspace, very intelligent cyborgs that helped make Cyberspace what it is today centuries ago."

"The site is home to lots of technology and history." Marbles explained, taking up the conversation. "While most of the site is in ruins, there is much to be learned from it. We had taken measures to make sure that Hacker stayed out of site so that he wouldn't learn much of the more important and potentially dangerous information, but if that device is indeed Cyantian in design, then it was for nothing."

"It is, doc." Digit confirmed, studying the machine from where they hid. "The more I look at it, there can be no doubt. I can even make out a Cyantian energy enhancer."

"Wait, an energy _enhancer_?" Marbles repeated. "Digit, this is far more serious than I thought."

"Even I can tell that." Peter admitted, looking slightly pale. "You said that this machine is essentially to be the trigger for making the site blow. Well, if it's got something that _enhances_ energy, then there's going to be a whole lot more than a cybersite destroyed."

"Peter's right." Marbles confirmed. "The explosion Hacker's about to create will be several times bigger than we first thought. And it'll let loose enough chaotic energy that it'll create a massive cyberbreech."

"A cyberbreech?" Lara repeated.

"It's basically a chaotic hole in Cyberspace." Digit explained. "Left unconstrained, it can spread to the point that'll tear cyberspace apart."

"And no doubt that if and when this breech is created, it'll already be too big to contain." Marbles said. "Digit, you _cannot _allow that to happen. Deactivate that machine, and destroy it!"

"Will do, doc." Digit promised, turning off the SKWAK pad.

"No, you won't!" a voice suddenly announced from nearby them.

The group looked around and suddenly saw Buzz and Delete step out from either side of them, both of them armed.

"Yikes." Lara said. "This can't be good."

"Buzz, Delete." Digit greeted cordially. "How are you two?"

"Yeah, nice try, Didge," Buzz said, "but you can't make friends with us! We've got orders from the boss."

"Maybe not." Digit admitted. "But I can say, look at that Pompidorian Whistler Pigeon!"

He pointed with one wing at a tree off on the horizon. The two bots looked in that direction, trying to find the nonexistent bird. While their backs were turned, Digit quickly and quietly began to push the kids in the other direction.

"There's nothing..." Buzz began to say, turning back, but then noticed what Digit was doing. "Hey! Stop!"

"RUN!" Digit yelled, and Lara, Alex, and Peter needed no second bidding.

They ran, Hacker's henchmen hot on their heels, trying to line up their weapons good enough to get a shot at them. Digit saw this, and even thought he didn't like it, saw only on solution.

"Split up!" Digit ordered the kids. "Peter and Alex, you go that way! Lara, follow me!"

Peter and Alex set off in one direction, luring Delete to follow them, while Digit and Lara broke to the right, Buzz following them. As Digit and Lara ran, Buzz started to get his aim lined up and started shooting. His shots all went astray and didn't hit their targets, but Digit knew the time to run had ended.

He leapt into the air and took flight. "Lara, grab on!"

"What?"

"Grab on!"

Lara increased her speed, then grabbed hold of Digit's feet. Digit then flew harder, gaining altitude. Buzz tried shooting Digit down, but the cybird and his cargo were soon out of range.

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" Lara exclaimed, as they rose above the canopy of trees.

"At least we're safe now!" Digit pointed out.

"Until that device down there goes bang!" Lara retorted. "Then we're all dead!"

Digit used the advantage of height to look around. He spotted a dark shape off in the distance, and started for it, having a good idea of what it would be.

"We're not giving up yet." he told Lara. "I think I have an idea."

* * *

Elsewhere, Delete rushed through the woods at breakneck speeds, trying to find the two Earthlings he was chasing, who had given him the slip. Not being very bright, he ignored their tracks in the ground, and instead looked blindly left and right, trying to catch sight of them.

He heard a twig snap suddenly, and, distracted, wandered towards it. He walked around a tree and saw Peter and Alex long enough to note that they had a low hanging branch of the tree pulled back a couple feet and were holding it there.

"Now!" Alex yelled, and the both of them let go of the branch.

The branch whipped forward and smashed Delete in his face, knocking the robot out and onto his back. Alex rushed forward and retrieved his weapon.

"I can't believe that actually worked!" Peter exclaimed, staring at the limp form of Delete.

"Yeah." Alex replied, familiarizing himself with Delete's laser pistol. "When we get back to the Real World, you owe me a dollar."

The two boys looked around.

"Now what?" Peter asked.

Alex thought for a moment. "I guess we go back to the machine." he said. "I'll bet that's where Lara and Digit went. And if not, maybe we can do something to disable the thing."

They walked off for the machine, Peter muttering out loud, "Digit...what kind of name is _Digit_?"


	10. Countdown

Filler chapter if anything, which wasn't intentional, it just happened. Where they are and what's happening to Matt, Jackie, and Inez is revealed in this chapter.

10.

Countdown

"Digit, how much farther do we have to go?" Lara asked, despairingly. "My hands are getting tired, and I've never really liked flying..."

"We're almost there." Digit said, his voice strained as he tried to stay in the air with his heavy passenger.

Finally, they reached the dark object they had been heading towards for some time. Lara looked at it as they landed nearby.

"What is that?" she asked, rubbing her sore wrists after they were both safely on the ground. "Is that a ship?"

Digit nodded. "The Grim Wreaker." he replied, walking towards it. "It's Hacker's ship."

"Then we better get out of here." Lara said, turning to head in the other direction.

"No." Digit quickly interrupted, pressing forward towards the ship, careful to make sure he wasn't seen. "Everything we might need to know about Hacker's plan is right here. Not to mention a possible means of escape."

"You want to hijack that ship?" Lara said, following.

"No." Digit replied. "But the Wreaker has a little lifeboat we can use."

Lara frowned. "How do you know that?" she asked the cybird.

Digit blushed. "I, uh, helped build it." he said.

"You did?" Lara asked, surprised.

"It's a long story." Digit said, "And I don't have the time to tell it."

Lara relented, and jumped to the chase. "So, we're going to sneak aboard, get some information, then hijack a lifeboat." she recapped. "Is that all."

"That's not all." Digit said. "Chances are good that there are some good friends of mine being imprisoned on that ship."

Lara, gasped, slapping her forehead. "Matt, Jackie, and Inez." she said. "Of course, the most logical place for them to be." she quickened her pace. "I hope they're all right."

* * *

And in essence, they were. They were just being held suspended in the air, each one individually held there by semi-transparent bubbles of energy, bubbles that blocked gravity and inertia, and so far as they could tell, were impenetrable.

And yet, Matt tried to break through.

By pushing off the seemingly solid side of the bubble, Matt rammed the other side of the bubble, trying to break free. Like always, it didn't give way in the slightest.

"Matt, forget it." Jackie said, who floated in the bubble next to him. "You can't get out."

"I can still try!" Matt persisted, trying it again with no success.

"Matt, stop it!" Inez said from the bubble next to Jackie. "I think every time you do that, the harder the walls of these bubbles get."

Matt rammed the side of the bubble once more, to no avail. He punched it in frustration. "We've got to get out!" he persisted.

"We all know that Matt!" Jackie said. "Which is why we've got to stop and _think_ our way out of this one."

"We don't have the time!" Matt said. "Hacker's up to something, and it can't be good!"

"When isn't it?" Inez asked sarcastically. She turned to Inez. "Any ideas?" she asked with a sigh.

"No." Inez admitted. "The only way I can see to get out of the these bubbles is by turning them off from that control panel." she pointed at the panel sitting directly in front of them. "Which, obviously, we can't reach."

"So we're stuck then?" Jackie asked, hoping Inez had something better than that.

"I could have told you that." Matt replied, shaking his head, sitting cross-legged in the middle of his bubble. "Who'd have thought we'd get trapped in oversized soap bubbles?"

"We can only hope that Digit will come and get us out." Jackie said. "And bring as much help as we can, because we're probably going to need it."

* * *

"We need help." Peter said bluntly, already beyond not knowing what he was doing by just looking at the machine before them. It looked much more complicated up close than it did from afar.

"We still need to try." Alex said, circling the machine, getting an idea of it's components.

"No, we need to get Digit, the only one who's not a bad guy who'd have any idea _what _to do." Peter said. "_Then _we try."

"But we don't know where the heck he is." Alex pointed out. He paused suddenly. "Unless..."

"What?" Peter asked, stepping closer to him.

"We use these." Alex said, pulling out the SKWAK pad he had been given, and holding it up.

Peter stared at it, then pulled out his own. "Do you even know how these things work?" he asked.

"Well, no, not really." Alex admitted, pushing buttons at random. "But we already know they work like walkie-talkies."

"Among other things." Peter added, also pressing buttons at random. Suddenly, the screen on his SKWAK pad flipped on, displaying something. Peter knew it wasn't the walkie-talkie part of the device, but it was something. He read through the display.

"Uh-oh." he said.

"What uh-oh?" Alex asked, alarmed.

"We need to hurry." Peter said.

"Why?" Alex asked.

"Because time is shorter than we think." Peter said holding up his SKWAK pad for Alex to see.

He had inadvertently managed to get the device to hack into the machine's computer. It now displayed the machine's various functions. Most prominent on the display was the machine's countdown to detonation, which was at thirty minutes...

...and counting...


	11. Partially Reunited

As the chapt. title suggests, some oof our main characters are reunited. A reference to all of my Cybcerchase fanfics previous to this one is made, and Hacker's proven to not be so sane after all...like there was any doubt to begin with. :P

11.

Partially Reunited

The Cybersquad sat in their bubbles, feeling bored, useless, and increasingly desperate. They knew they had to get out and stop Hacker before it was too late, but they didn't know how to get out, what Hacker was up to, and when it would be too late. And this was information they needed to know in order to do anything.

Matt hovered aimlessly in his bubble, not liking having to be inactive. "Any ideas now, Inez?" he asked.

Inez floated upside down in her bubble, the closest she could come to doing a headstand, something that always seemed to help her think. "Nothing that I haven't already said."

Jackie had her arms wrapped around her legs. "I wish Digit was here." she said. "He knows quite a bit about the Grim Wreaker."

"I don't know about this part of it though." Matt pointed out, gesturing to the bubbles that contained them. "I don't remember the Grim Wreaker _ever_ having something like this before."

"Yes, I came to the conclusion as well." Inez said. "I think this is something new, something Hacker has only recently gotten."

"And you are absolutely correct." an all-too familiar voice announced from the front of the room.

Standing in the doorway was the cyborg himself, Hacker. He grinned at the looks of contempt the kids gave him, and waltzed up to the energy bubbles' control panel.

"Hello kiddies, are we having fun yet?" he asked.

"What are you up to Hacker?" Inez asked, getting right down to the point. "What's your plan?"

"Only one of sheer desperation, no thanks to you three." Hacker said. "If this won't make you listen, nothing will."

"Listen to what, Hacker?" Jackie asked.

"Listen to what I want, and how to get it to me." Hacker said.

"Who'd want to listen to that?" Matt asked, annoyed.

"You'd better." Hacker said. "Because I must have it!"

"Control of Cyberspace." Inez guessed.

"Yes, exactly!" Hacker said. "And why not? Everyone else in Cyberspace gets whatever they want, whenever they want. Except me. You are all trying to exclude me, to kick me out of the Cyberspace fan club."

"For good reason, believe me, Hacker." Jackie said.

"Oh no, I don't think so." Hacker said, pointing an accusing finger at Jackie. "You're all jealous, that's what this is about!"

"What?" all three of the kids chorused together.

"Yes, jealous!" Hacker said. "You _know_ that allowing me to have any influence over Cyberspace's inner workings would mean _you _would get _upstaged! _You're afraid that by letting that happen, support would turn _away_ from you and onto me!"

"What?" Matt asked. "That's not true!"

"Yes it is, and you know it!" Hacker said. "And for the longest time, you all thought that I didn't know! Well, now I do, and I know why didn't before! You wiped it from my memory! You're all plotting against me to make my life miserable!"

The kids stared at him for a few moments.

"Hacker, we've always thought that your mental health has been a little bit poor as of late, but you've really gone off the deep end this time." Matt said. "Your whole story is false, every bit of it! You've convinced yourself that it's true!"

"You're just saying that because you think your cover can still be saved!" Hacker said. "But I know better! I was destined to rule over Cyberspace, but you are trying to keep me from what's rightfully my own!"

"You...conspiracy theorist!" Matt exclaimed.

"Hacker, the reason all of this has happened is because _you _tried to take what was rightfully _ours_ away from us!" Inez said. "We only do this in self-defense! It's your own fault that you've got this way! And the only way to change that is to change your methods."

But Hacker wouldn't hear of it. "When will you realize that the game is up?" he asked. "You've lost! I've caught onto your little scheme, and I will not stand idle and let you get away with it! If things must be this way, then so be it!" And with a flutter of his cape, Hacker marched back out of the room and was gone.

"Well." Inez said after a moment of silence. "That was productive."

"Go figure." Jackie muttered.

Matt shook his head. "Hacker has lost it." he said. "Lost it to the point that he's a threat to himself if he keep this up."

"I thought that we knew that from day one?" a new voice now asked.

The Cybersquad looked up once again and saw Digit enter the room.

"Digit!" Matt exclaimed, relieved. "Thank goodness! How about getting us out of here buddy?"

"Sure." Digit said, sitting down at the control panel and scanning over the various buttons. "But this would go faster if Hacker labeled his buttons better."

"I'm just glad that we're going to get out of these annoying bubbles." Jackie said, floating into a standing position within her bubble. "I kinda miss gravity." she then looked up once more and saw yet another figure. "Who's that?" she suddenly asked.

Digit turned around to look at the figure now edging her way forward. "Oh." Digit said, "That's...uh...uh...the...er...see, what happened was...um..."

"Is that who I think it..." Matt began to say but was suddenly cut off by Inez.

"_Lara_?" she exclaimed, recognizing the girl before them almost immediately.

"Uh, hi." Lara said hesitantly, grinning sheepishly. "Uh, heard you needed some help, so..."

"You know her?" Matt asked Inez.

"Don't you?" Inez asked back. "I'm sure I've introduced her to you before."

"No." Matt said. "I'd think I'd remember someone else from the Real World who knew about Cyberspace."

"Well, she didn't." Inez said. "Not since I last knew."

"Er..." Lara said, unsure how to explain this.

"Well, things changed." Digit said, finding the right control and pressing it. The bubbles vanished with a pop and the Cybersquad dropped to the ground. "You guys got captured, figured out what Hacker planned to do, and needed additional help. "And she, Peter, and Alex happened to be in a good position to be picked up, so..."

"Wait, she's not the only one you brought into Cyberspace?" Jackie asked, picking herself off of the floor, dusting off her skirt.

"Peter's here?" Matt asked, sitting up. "Isn't that the one kid who's always looking at me weird, like he knows some secret of mine, and is just waiting to use it against me?"

"That's kinda it." Lara said, helping Matt up to his feet. "Anyway, he was right. You guys did have a secret. Having unbelievable adventures in a place no one even dreamed of."

"What, this?" Matt asked, in reference to their current situation. "I've seen far more...interesting...things than this. Like meeting up with my future self, visiting a parallel universe, and getting turned into a mouse, among other things."

"Wow, you guys really have done a lot." Lara remarked as they cautiously left the room. She was silent for a moment, then asked Matt, "You got turned into a mouse?"

"Yeah." Matt replied, "Not one of my better days."

"And all of that has only happened recently." Inez added. "We've had loads of adventures, more exciting than this one."

"So anyway," Jackie interrupted, as they hurried through the barren hallways of the Wreaker. "What's the situation Didge?"

"Not good." Digit replied. "But first, we need to track down Peter and Alex again."

"What, you got separated?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, and it wasn't really by choice." Digit replied. "But don't worry, I have a pretty good idea of where they are and how to get there."

"Okay." Inez said. "But we don't have any real idea what's going on here, so if you could fill us in on the way, Digit, it'd be appreciated."

"Certainly." Digit replied. "But you aren't going to like it."


	12. Desperate Measures

In this chapter, everyone gets reunited, but the situation grows more grave, and Peter owes Alex another dollar. :P

12.

Desperate Measures

Buzz eventually found Delete lying flat on his back, just coming to again.

"DeeDee!" Buzz exclaimed, rushing to his friend's side. "What happened?"

Delete rubbed his head for a moment as he sat up. "I forget." the absent-minded robot eventually replied. "I think I hit something though."

"I gathered that much." Buzz said, annoyed, helping Delete to his feet. "C'mon, we gotta track down those kids, or the boss is going to skin us alive."

"If we had skin." Delete pointed out, as they began to run.

They wandered back to the Cyantian machine, still left running on the riverside, to make it everything was okay here.

"Huh, everything seems to check out here." Buzz remarked. "That's odd, I would've thought for sure they would've all come back here."

"Buzzy, do you hear something?" Delete asked suddenly, cupping a hand around his ear.

Buzz listened for a moment, then was going to say that he could hear a creaking noise, but was stopped when the branch from a nearby tree suddenly lashed out in front of them. It caught Delete in the middle and threw him backwards, knocking him out once again. Buzz, who was shorter, got wacked in the head, and stumbled for a few moments before tipping over, unconscious.

Peter came out of hiding and looked at them. "I can't believe that worked _again!_" he exclaimed.

"You owe me another dollar." Alex announced, also revealing himself. "I hope you're keeping track."

They turned to the machine again and looked at it.

"So now what?" Peter asked.

Alex shrugged. "I dunno." he replied.

"Maybe we should shoot it." Peter said, whipping out one of the two laser pistols they had gotten off of Buzz and Delete.

Alex stopped him. "That would probably only make it explode sooner." he pointed out. He sighed, then looked at the contraption's one and only control panel. "We'll have to try and disarm it ourselves." he said.

Peter stepped aside. "You first!" he said.

Alex frowned, but did not argue. He approached the control panel and looked it over.

"I wish these buttons were labeled." he muttered. "Then I'd know which one turned the darn thing off."

"Well, I'd doubt it would be the big green button in the middle." Peter said, pointing at the button in question.

"Yeah, that would be too obvious." Alex agreed.

"In the Real World anyway." Peter added.

They looked at one another.

"You think it's worth a try?" Alex asked.

"It's not like we have any better ideas." Peter pointed out.

Alex hesitated a moment, then pressed the button. The machine began to whir.

Peter's SKWAK pad bleeped. He pulled it out and studied the display.

"Oh shoot." he muttered.

"What?" Alex asked, sounding tense.

"The timer on this things suddenly just doubled it's speed." Peter explained. "It'll go off in half the time, if not less."

"Shoot!" Alex exclaimed, scanning over the buttons, "There must be something that'll undo that!"

Suddenly, they heard a low hum. Looking up, they saw a little craft come towards the, then land nearby. The glass canopy sprang open, and out clambered Digit and Lara, as well as Matt, Jackie, and Inez.

"Oh, thank heavens!" Peter exclaimed, relieved, "Did you guys ever come at the right time!"

"Why? What's happened?" Inez asked, not liking the tone Peter was taking, excusing the introductions for the moment.

"We weren't sure where you all were, so we were trying to disarm this thing ourselves." Alex explained as Digit rushed over. "And we made the timer on this thing double in speed."

"You _what?_" Digit exclaimed, alarmed. "You made things _worse?_"

"If you hadn't ran off, then maybe this wouldn't have happened!" Peter said accusingly. "Where were you guys, anyway?"

"We were at Hacker's ship." Lara explained. "We were able to steal it's lifeboat in addition to freeing the experts." she motioned to the ship and at the Cybersquad, who had all gathered around the machine.

"Can you stop it, Digit?" Matt asked the cybird as he surveyed the controls.

"Easily, if this darn control panel was labeled!" Digit exclaimed.

"Can't you just push buttons at random?" Jackie asked.

"No!" Digit exclaimed annoyed. "That could make things worse than they already are!"

"Like how?" Peter asked.

"Like making the thing blow up _now_ rather than later!" Digit exclaimed.

"Okay, don't do that then." Peter said.

"Thank you captain obvious!" Digit yelled.

"Relax Digit," Inez said, "We still have..."

"Fifteen minutes." Peter provided, glancing at his SKWAK pad.

"...so no pressure." Inez concluded.

Digit muttered something incoherently.

"Uh, guys?" Lara suddenly said. "We have trouble."

She pointed at Buzz and Delete, who were starting to stir. Everyone turned to look at them, but then looked back in the other direction when a another noise rang out.

"More trouble than we think." Matt suddenly added, looking upward.

The Grim Wreaker skimmed over the treetops, heading in their direction...


	13. A Moment of Chaos

Yay! The first Cyberchase fanfic that goes _over _twelve chapters:D

13.

A Moment of Chaos

"Hacker must have a tracker on the lifeboat!" Inez exclaimed, glancing back and forth from the awakening Buzz and Delete to the approaching Grim Wreaker.

"Now what?" Lara asked, alarmed.

Delete stood up and looked around, but backed up suddenly when Alex fired his stolen laser pistol at Delete's feet.

"That was just a warning shot." he informed the robot.

"Unfortunately, Hacker can do better than that." Jackie remarked, watching the Grim Wreaker slow to a hover, only feet away.

The massive ship turned slightly, then the green dome on it's bottom slid open, and out of it lowered a large, intimidating laser cannon. It turned for a moment, before falling on it's intended target.

"Look out!" Lara exclaimed.

She and Alex leapt to either side of the spot they had both been standing at as the blue energy bolt the cannon had unleashed lashed out at that spot and exploded violently. Delete use this to his advantage, jumping onto Alex, trying to wrest away his laser pistol.

The laser cannon fired again, this time firing at the Cybersquad, forcing Matt, Jackie, and Inez to scatter. Digit remained at the machine's control panel, his wing moving back and forth over it as he tried to determine which control was the one he wanted.

"Digit, you're just going to have to pick one and press it!" Peter exclaimed, firing warning shots at Buzz, who was now joining into the fray with Alex and Delete. Lara tried to pull them off of each other.

Matt made a run for the lifeboat, hugging the side of the stream as he went, but was blocked when the Wreaker's laser cannon shot into the stream, sending up a large cloud of steam, engulfing Matt in the thick fog. Unable to see anymore he back tracked to the machine, looking for shelter.

A loud bang suddenly went off when Alex's laser pistol was suddenly fired, it's shot skimming Delete's shoulder. Delete let out a yell in pain, and began to recoil backwards. This allowed Lara to land a punch on the robots head, knocking him out for the third time that day. With Delete out of the way, Buzz tackled Alex head on, but being the smaller of the two robots, was easily thrown off by Alex, who was quickly regaining his footing.

The Wreaker fired again, this striking dangerously close to where Digit desperately stood, still trying to determine what button to press to deactivate the machine. Peter arrived at his side, pulling out his SKWAK pad.

"You've only got five minutes left!" he announced, panicked.

"I'm not sure I can deactivate this thing in time!" Digit announced.

Another echoing bang rang out from the Wreaker's laser cannon, nearly hitting Lara again. It was then that Matt made a sudden decision.

"Lara, Alex, Peter!" he called out, "Get out of here! Take the lifeboat and go as far away from this cybersite as you can!"

Peter, all too willing to escape the blast of the bomb, handed Inez his laser pistol then immediately headed for the lifeboat, plopping himself into the driver's seat. Lara and Alex hung up for a moment.

"What about you guys?" Lara asked. "Even if you do get that machine deactivated in time..."

"Don't worry about us, just _go!_" Matt said, grabbing hold of them both and, upon taking Alex's laser pistol, shoved them towards the lifeboat.

Alex, knowing there was little time to argue, raced for the little craft. Lara tried to double back to the Cybersquad, but a series of laser cannon shots from the Grim Wreaker cut her off, forcing her to retreat to the lifeboat.

"Can you fly this thing?" Alex asked Peter as the glass canopy closed in preparation to take off.

"We're about to find out." Peter said, gunning the craft's engine to maximum.

They shot to the air, just narrowly missing a hit from the Wreaker's laser cannon, which had figured out what they were about to do. The cannon tried to line up another shot, but Peter, either intentionally or accidently, swung around and shot past the Wreaker, skimming one side of it before shooting off into the sky above it, where the laser cannon could not reach.

Soon, there was a small flash of light as the lifeboat crossed the barrier dividing the Pompedoria from the rest of Cyberspace.

Back on the site, Matt, Jackie, and Inez gathered around the machine, the Wreaker bearing down on them from one side, Buzz and Delete coming at them from the other.

"Only one minute left!" Jackie announced, glancing at her watch.

"Digit, just press random buttons!" Inez exclaimed, "We've got nothing left to lose!"

Digit hesitated for a split second, then pressed a small blue button. Instantly, the control panel went dark.

"I think I did it!" Digit yelled.

"Stand back!" Matt yelled, as they all began putting distance between them and the Cyantian device.

Matt took the laser pistol he had taken from Alex, while motioning to Inez to follow his example with the laser pistol she had gotten from Peter. Together, they fired both pistols repeatedly at the machine until it was too much for it to handle, and exploded violently, knocking the Cybersquad off their feet.

But the resulting explosion was far smaller than it could have been, and that was important.

Matt picked himself up, only to find himself staring down the barrel of the laser pistol Buzz had retrieved from him.

"Don't move." the robot advised.

He glanced over at Inez and saw that the same thing had happened to her with Delete. Glancing over at Jackie and Digit, he saw that they were being cut off by the landing Grim Wreaker.

Seeing that there was no chance of escape, Matt obeyed, holding his hands up in surrender.


	14. Grave Situation

In case this interests anyone, this story nearly took an entirely different direction at this point. Since it didn't, if there's anything that seems vauge, or an oversight, that's why.

14.

Grave Situation

The little lifeboat shot through Cyberspace with a vengeance, and did not stop until it was well over fifty cycbermeters away from Pompedoria. It was then that Peter stopped, and swung the little ship around. The cybersite still floated there intact.

Alex looked at it, then at his watch. "They did it." he murmured.

"They stopped the bomb." Lara added.

"No big, earth shattering, kaboom." Peter said.

The three stared at the distant cybersite for several moments longer.

"What do you think happened to them, then?" Lara finally ventured to ask.

"Maybe they escaped." Alex suggested hopefully.

But Peter shook his head. "Are you kidding me?" he asked. "They were surrounded on both sides, one of those sides having a great big, huge, laser cannon! If they're lucky enough to be alive, they've been captured by now."

They were silent a moment longer, knowing that Peter was right.

"So...now what?" Lara asked.

"Now, we get out of here." Peter said, turning the ship around and heading off in what he hoped was the right direction.

"Peter, we can't just leave them back there!" Alex said.

"That's not our problem!" Peter said. "We did what we were sent to do! We stopped that Hacker guy from blowing up the cybersite! We can go home now!"

"But we _didn't_ stop Hacker's plan." Lara pointed out. "The others did."

"A minor technicality." Peter said.

"No, not minor." Alex corrected. "All we did was get in the way up until we fled."

"At their request." Peter pointed out. "And besides, that was the whole point of the mission, was to stop the bomb. Who cares who did it, just so long as it's stopped?"

"But that wasn't the entire point of the mission." Lara said, remembering something. "We were sent to rescue the Cybersquad as well."

Peter froze.

"And we haven't done that either." Alex added. "We left them behind."

"Again, because they told us to." Peter said.

"Because they expected us to go back, get help, then come back for them!" Alex said. "Not abandon them!"

"Alex's right." Lara said. "We can't go anywhere."

"Besides, you don't even have any idea where to go anyway." Alex said, as Peter persistently drove the cybercraft forward.

"And you do?" Peter asked defiantly.

"No." Alex replied, pulling out his SKWAK pad. "But I know who does."

He turned the SKWAK on. "Alex to Motherboard, come in please." he said, hoping he had turned on the right control.

"This is Motherboard." the cool, feminine voice of Cyberspace's leader replied. "What has happened?"

"Lots of things, Mother B." Lara added, looking at Alex's screen.

"We need a portal, big enough for a small, four-seater craft." Alex said.

Motherboard nodded, and a portal suddenly opened up before the cybercraft. Before Peter could even do anything to react, the craft slipped right through the portal's event horizon and vanished.

* * *

Held at gunpoint, Buzz and Delete escorted Matt, Jackie, Digit, and Inez down the Grim Wreaker's hallways and soon found themselves back in the prison room. Still being held at gunpoint, Buzz and Delete placed each member of the Cybersquad on a certain spot, then stepped back.

Buzz then flipped a switch on the control panel, and the bubbles of energy reformed around the four prisoners, suspending them in the air, and effectively trapping them.

"Heh, you guys aren't going anywhere anytime soon." Buzz said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, but the boss will keep 'em company." Delete added.

Then, with them both laughing, they exited the room, leaving the quiet and resigned Cybersquad behind...


	15. SKWAKs and Rescue Plans

Note for Future Reference: the little discovery Hacker makes in this chapter is important. While it will probably remain a secret for the rest of this fanfic, it'll be more important in the next fanfic I intend to write, and very piviotal in the fanfic I intend to write after that (yes, I've planned ahead that far ;)). So remember that it happened for the next two Fanfics I plan to write after this one.

15.

SKWAKs and Rescue Plans

On the bridge of the Grim Wreaker, hanging in orbit around Pompedoria, Hacker sat at a control panel, working. Lying around him was everything he had Buzz and Delete take from the captured Cybersquad. This included a wide variety of things, such as Matt's backpack, with everything in it, everything Digit had in his chest compartment, a comb Jackie had in one pocket, a calculator Inez had, both of the laser pistols the kids had stolen...

And the SKWAK pads.

Hacker took much interest in the SKWAK pads, knowing that they could contain vital information that he could use in his war with Motherboard. So he got straight to work copy all of the information they contained.

He was a bit disappointed though, finding everything on the SKWAK pads _except_ what he needed. For example, Matt's SKWAK contained various information about baseball games, and a planner, which concerned with Matt's life in the Real World, and was of no use to Hacker. Jackie's SKWAK pad wasn't much better, containing mere pictures of Cyberspace, and various simulations that had been run on the SKWAK pad that Jackie had saved for one reason or another.

Digit's SKWAK pad didn't have much on it at all, except for the programs and information that came with the SKWAK pad. Apparently the cybird either had little need to have anything else on the SKWAK pad, or was playing it safe by not putting anything else on it, in the case that the device was ever captured by enemy hands.

It was not until reaching Inez's SKWAK pad that Hacker started finding something he could work with, for Inez had lots of notes on her SKWAK pad about Cyberspace among other things, as well as a small journal. With both of these things, Hacker could possibly learn something that the only the kids and Motherboard knew about, and he could also possibly learn something about the Cybersquad's inner workings with the journal.

So he was spending his time reading through all of it.

He was about most of the way through, finding various tid-bits of information that could be expanded into an evil scheme when Buzz and Delete entered.

"Prisoners locked away, boss." Buzz announced, saluting.

Hacker nodded distractedly, more interested in what he was currently doing at the moment.

"We thought you might want to talk with them or something, boss." Delete said.

"Later." Hacker said. "I'm busy."

He continued scrolling through the information, stopping suddenly when he found something interesting.

"Anything else you want us to do, boss?" Buzz asked after a momentary pause.

"Just leave me in peace so I can concentrate on what I'm doing here." Hacker replied, squinting his eyes at the piece of information he found.

Buzz and Delete nodded, then left the room. Once they had, Hacker permitted himself an evil grin. The piece of information he had found was proving to be very important. More important than he had first thought. So important, that little fact alone changed everything...

* * *

"Hacker has captured the Cybersquad?" Dr. Marbles asked, sounding very worried.

Lara, Peter, and Alex all stared at the floor in shame, nodding.

"It's the most likely explanation." Alex pointed out.

"It is indeed." Motherboard agreed. "But do not blame it on yourselves."

"How _can't_ we?" Lara asked. "We fled, and left them behind _to _get captured."

"If you hadn't, you'd undoubtably be captured as well." Marbles pointed out. "The Cybersquad obviously knew this; that is why they told you to go. Now, Motherboard and I know about the situation, and you three are still free to help."

"I don't want to help." Peter suddenly spoke up. "I didn't ask to get involved in the first place. But we did what you asked, we stopped the bomb."

"That you did." Marbles agreed. "For which we are thankful for."

"However, the mission is not over yet." Motherboard pointed out. "The Cybersquad are still Hacker's prisoners, and they need to be rescued."

"I know." Peter said. "But I've had enough of this. I'm ready to go home and get on with my life _before _I ended up here."

"If that is your wish, then so be it." Motherboard said.

This surprised Peter and the others. "Wait, you're actually going to let him walk away from this?" Alex asked.

"He helped stop a bomb that, had it gone off, would've eventually destroyed all of Cyberspace." Motherboard said. "As such, all of Cyberspace is in his debt."

Peter blinked a few times in surprise. "Yeah." he said, liking the idea. "Yeah, they are. Which means you owe me."

"We owe all of you." Motherboard said. "And if your wish, Peter, is to leave, then I will let you do so."

Peter smirked, contemplating the idea.

Lara frowned. "Well, I am certainly staying here." she said. "I came here to help Inez, my friend. She and her friends are still in trouble, so I will stay and finish the job."

"I'm staying too." Alex added. "I was never one for not finishing what I started."

"Well, I certainly don't want to stay." Peter admitted, but then added, "But if I go back, I'll have to finish that assignment we were doing all by myself, which I don't want to do at all. So maybe I can deal with finishing this so-called mission."

"Well, I don't know if that's for the right reasons, but I suppose I should glad you intend to stay as well." Alex remarked. "So what's the plan?"

"The Cybersquad is going to be on the Grim Wreaker, and it's still at Pompedoria." Motherboard explained. "I can send you three back in the lifeboat you arrived in. Seeing that it belongs tot eh Grim Wreaker, it should be easy to use it to dock with Hacker's ship."

"Then, I guess we just find the Cybersquad and get them out of there before Hacker catches on." Lara concluded.

Motherboard nodded.

Alex clapped his hands together decisively. "Let's do it then."


	16. Infiltration

Hacker delievers an ultimatum, and the rescue attempt begins. ;)

16.

Infiltration

It was impossible to tell just how long the Cybersquad had been locked up, but one thing was clear, it had been a very long time. Matt hovered aimlessly in his bubble of energy, trying to figure out if there was anyway out of it. Jackie was curled up in a ball, and floated in the middle of her bubble, humming a slightly mournful tune quietly. Inez watched Jackie nodding her head in beat to the tune Jackie hummed. Digit had fallen asleep out of boredom, snoring.

"This is so dull." Jackie announced, finishing her song. "It's a grave situation, sure, but nothing has happened since we were stuck in these things."

"I know." Inez agreed. "One would think Hacker would've shown up to antagonize us by now."

"All for the better." Matt said, persistently thinking that they could escape, "I've made progress on our escape plan."

"How much?" Inez asked.

"About one percent." Matt replied.

"Matt, not only is that too little too late," Jackie said, "But when you started working on the plan, your initial estimate on your progress was _below _zero. One percent doesn't make that big of a difference."

"It's a start." Matt stated.

"Of a very long stay here in Hotel Grim Wreaker." Jackie added, annoyed.

"There's still Alex, Lara, and Peter." Inez said, trying to keep hope. "They could be working to rescue us."

"You kidding me?" Matt said. "Not only are they new to all of this and don't have any real idea what they're doing, but half of them didn't even really want to be here in the first place."

"Matt has a point." Jackie said. "Besides, they did what they were supposed to do and stopped the immediate danger. Motherboard isn't going to keep them here any longer against their will now."

"True." Inez said with a dismayed sigh, disappointed their only hope was shot out of the sky.

"Mother B will be rallying help from other sources by now though." Jackie said. "I mean, there's time to do that now, isn't there?"

"Certainly seems that way." Matt said. "There's no real danger to us and Cyberspace yet, now is there."

"Add extra emphasis on the yet, and you're right." a voice suddenly said.

Hacker had arrived.

The Cybersquad stared at him as the evil and slightly demented cyborg strolled casually up to the control panel for the energy bubble.

"Wake up Digit!" Hacker said loudly.

"Huh, what?" Digit muttered, startled into wakefulness. "Hacker? About time you showed up."

"I'll have you know I was very busy going through the data on your SKWAK pads." Hacker explained. "I was searching for something I could use to my advantage."

"You'll find nothing, Hacker." Matt stated.

"That's where you're wrong." Hacker said.

"Wait, you found something?" Inez asked.

"Yes, on _your _SKWAK pad, no less." Hacker said.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense, tell us what it is!" Digit said hotly.

"If I did that, and you all somehow escaped, you'd be able to stop me!" Hacker said. "Now, we can't have that, now can we?"

"Listen to me Hacker!" Matt said. "Give it up! There is no way you'll get what you want! _All_ of your plans have been thwarted by us, and we will keep doing so for as long as it takes! Forever, if need be!"

"But that's just it, you can't last forever, now can you?" Hacker asked.

"Neither can you." Inez pointed out.

"That's exactly why everything has boiled down to a game of surviving." Hacker said. "To see who can outlast the other. Winner takes all."

"That can take forever in of itself." Jackie remarked.

"Exactly why I am here." Hacker said. "Neither side wants this conflict to go on for so long. Eventually someone is going to have to give it up or face it going on for far too long. Which is why I'm now giving you four the chance to surrender."

"Surrender?" Matt repeated. "Ha! As if."

"Clearly, you do not realize I hold all of the cards at the moment." Hacker said, flicking a switch on the control panel. "Remember when I said it was now a game of outlasting the other? Well, right now, I'm in an excellent position in making sure that I _win _that game."

He laughed evilly as the energy in bubbles intensified, lashing out beams of energy that wrapped around the limbs of the individual members of the Cybersquad, holding them still in a spreadeagled position. Then four laser cannons lowered from the ceiling and pointed themselves at the heart of each member of the Cybersquad.

"Refuse my offer, or try any thing suspicious," Hacker said darkly, "and these cannons will automatically fire. As you can see there would be no way to avoid getting hit. So think carefully before choosing your actions, and I propose doing the smart thing, and agreeing to my offer of surrender. You live longer that way."

He laughed manically as he turned to leave. He stopped at the door to say one last thing. "I'm giving you an hour to make your choice. At that point, anyone who has not surrendered is dead."

He then left, the door clanging shut behind him.

"Oh yeah." Matt grumbled, staring down the barrel of the laser cannon pointed at him. "He's lost it."

* * *

The portal lead Alex, Lara, and Peter in the stolen lifeboat to the opposite side of Pompedoria from where the Grim Wreaker hovered. Peter took a deep breath as he reoriented the cybercraft to point at the much larger ship.

"You sure you can handle this?" Alex asked.

"No." Peter admitted, "But I'm the only one who has any idea how to fly this thing, so I don't really have a choice."

He pressed down on the craft throttle, and it zoomed towards Hacker's ship on a direct path.

* * *

"Boss!" Buzz exclaimed as hacker reappeared on the bridge. "We've got company!"

Hacker took one look at the little cybercraft on the viewscreen. "It's those other brats!" he exclaimed, sitting down in the command chair Buzz had vacated. "The ones who were helping the earth kiddies down on the site and escaped!" he gripped the controls tightly as he brought the Wreaker to bear on them. "But they won't escape this time!"

Hacker turned to Delete. "Arm the main laser cannon!" he ordered. "Let's give them a little light show, shall we?"

* * *

Lara was the first to see the green dome on the Wreaker's underside to slide aside and the laser cannon lower. "Look out!" she exclaimed.

Peter jerked the controls as the cannon fired, and missed. Peter reoriented to head towards the Wreaker once again from a different angle. "I hope we can get close enough before we're blown out of the stars!" he exclaimed, dodging another shot from the laser cannon.

* * *

Inside the Wreaker, Hacker was having fun. "Prepare to fire again!" he ordered with a laugh. "They can only dodge for so long!"

Delete gave a salute and prepped the laser cannon to fire again, aiming it at the oncoming cybercraft.

"Fire!" Hacker exclaimed.

Delete obeyed. The cybercraft dodged the shot once more, and suddenly charged.

"They're going to hit us!" Buzz yelled suddenly.

"Prepare to fire once again Delete!" Hacker ordered urgently.

Delete obeyed, targeting the cybercraft once again.

"Wait for it!" Hacker pressed.

But then the cybercraft suddenly dove, and vanished.

Hacker searched for it on the screen. "Where did it go?" he asked himself.

* * *

Under the Wreaker, the cybercraft struggled to stay directly under it as the ship turned back and forth, looking for the missing cybercraft. Twice, Peter got so close he nearly bumped into the hull of the larger ship.

"Stop that!" Alex exclaimed as Peter overcorrected his driving and nearly did it again.

"I'm trying to!" Peter exclaimed. "Maybe _you'd_ like to drive, if you think you can do it so much better!"

Finally, the Wreaker slowed to a stop, and the laser cannon that sat directly in front of them began to retract.

"All right Peter, it's now or never!" Lara said urgently.

Peter gunned the ship forward, tucking it in next to a small space next to the laser cannon, barely fitting. It followed the laser as it slid upward and into the ship. Peter slowed the ship to a halt once inside, allowing the laser cannon to continue upward on it's own. They watched as the green dome slowly slid back into place.

"We're in." Lara said as a relief.

Peter turned the ship around and saw a spot to land it at, and did.

"So much for the easy part." he muttered.

"That was the easy part?" Alex asked, surprised.

"Yeah, how easy do you think it'll be to escape?" Peter asked.

"Good point." Alex admitted as they climbed out of their craft. "Now let's go."

And they ducked into a nearby, dimly lit, hallway...


	17. Breaking Free

Extra long chapter (partly out of request from reviewers, also because I just got on a roll), gearing up to wrap up this fanfic, which is good for me, because while I've enjoyed this fanfic, I'm ready to move on to the next fanfics iin line. :)

17.

Breaking Free

The Grim Wreaker seemed to be strangely silent. Lara didn't like it in the slightest. But she knew there wasn't much she could do about it, so she stopped to get her bearings. She was leading since she was the only one of the three who had actually been on Hacker's ship before.

"Which way?" Peter asked, sounding impatient.

"I'm thinking." Lara replied, annoyed. "Last time I was here, I didn't need to figure out a path, because Digit was leading the way, and I simply followed him."

Alex was studying the hallway in awe. "You know, for a villain's ship, the Grim Wreaker actually looks kinda cool." he remarked.

"You can't keep it." Peter remarked back.

Alex glanced at him. "Was that a joke?" he asked.

"Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't." Peter replied hotly.

"This way." Lara said suddenly, pointing at a hallway to the left and heading down it.

"You sure?" Alex asked.

"No." Lara admitted. "But it seems to most likely in my mind's eye."

"Good enough for me." Alex said.

"Just so long we don't end up in the same room the bad guys are." Peter stated.

"Or end up going in circles." Alex added.

"I'll do my best." Lara promised. "Feel free to overthrow my lead if any of you think you can do it better."

"I'd rather put it to a vote." Alex suggested.

"Okay, who thinks we should go this way, down this nicely lit hallway where you can see where you're heading, or down _that _dark and forbidding hallway with the many twists and turns so that it's impossible to know what's around each of them?" Lara asked sarcastically.

"I think this is a good route to choose." Alex quickly stated. "How about you, Peter?"

"Well, since you put it that way..." Peter said.

They traveled onward in silence, ever aware of the fact that the next corner could lead to danger...

* * *

Matt jerked his body as far as he could to the right. The laser cannon pointed at him adjusted it's aim accordingly. Matt then shifted his body to the left, only to see the laser again adjust to compensate.

"Well, there's no way to avoid the shots from these things once they start shooting." Matt remarked to his companions in the other bubbles.

"Has it occurred to anybody that there is a barrier of energy separating us from those laser cannons?" Jackie said, nodding her head to the bubble entrapping her. "Who's to say that they can pierce it? I mean, we certainly can't."

"You saying Hacker was bluffing?" Matt asked.

"It's possible." Jackie pointed out. "I mean, it's not like he hasn't tried it before."

"Either that or he's lost his mind so much that he overlooked that possibility." Digit grumbled, staring down the laser cannon pointed at him.

Inez thought the matter through. "No, I find it unlikely." she finally announced. "Just because the bubbles seem to be impenetrable on our side, doesn't mean that they are the same on the other side."

"Is that even possible?" Jackie asked.

"In theory." Inez said.

"And another point for science." Matt grumbled. He sighed. "I'm getting tired of this stupid bubble."

All further conversation was cut off suddenly when three people they knew well suddenly walked in. Alex, Peter, and Lara looked around. Alex paused when he saw all four heads on the Cybersquad start shaking back and forth vigorously. But he couldn't understand why. What he couldn't see were the laser cannons, which happened to be high enough that from his angle, it was hard to see them and tell what they were. But at the moment, the laser cannons didn't know there were newcomers in the room.

"Huh!" Lara suddenly said loudly. "I was right!"

The exclamation echoed around the room, as the Cybersquad flinched. The laser cannons that were pointed at them suddenly whirled around at the three newcomers.

"Aw, crumb." Lara muttered, realizing what she had done.

All four of the laser cannons fired at their new targets at once. Alex, Peter, and Lara were just barely able to jump out the way. The shots hit the floor instead, blasting a large hole into it. Peter had his laser pistol out and started shooting it. His shots were off, hitting the ceiling instead, raining sparks down on everyone.

Two of the laser cannons fired again at Peter. They missed, impacting the wall directly behind Peter as he dove to the floor. The other two cannons were focused upon Lara and Alex, who were working their way to the control panel, alternately firing at both, blasting holes into the floor as they went.

Lara was first to reach the control panel, but was forced to duck under it as one of the laser cannons fired at her. It just barely missed, striking the control panel instead, frying it.

"Now what?" Lara asked Alex as he joined her under the control panel. "This panel's shot!"

Another shot impacted the control panel, and Alex jumped up long enough to fire a few shots from his laser pistol at the offending laser cannon. His shots hit it, but seemed to do little damage. He was forced to duck back under the control panel again.

"I don't know!" he said to Lara. "But let's take care of these laser cannons first!"

Peter was making a mad dash for the control panel, but the shots from three of the laser cannons cut him off, forcing him to divert his path, racing past the control panel and under the bubbles of energy imprisoning the Cybersquad. Alarms started to ring all throughout the ship.

"Hacker's figure out what's going on!" Inez exclaimed, worried.

A laser cannon fired at Peter as he raced for cover, traveling under the bubbles as he went. One shot hit something vital, for suddenly Jackie's bubble vanished, allowing her to tumble to the floor. She quickly was up again and dove for cover as the laser cannon focused it's attention onto her.

The cannon's back was turned to Alex, and he used the chance to fire at it's more exposed back. The shots hit home, and the cannon sparked for a moment, then shut down. One of the cannons fired in Alex's direction in retribution, forcing Alex to leap out of the way. The shot plowed into the control panel, blasted straight through it, then impacted the floor on the other side, forcing Lara to leap aside as well.

Jackie was making a mad dash for a little inlet Peter had ducked into. As she went, a blast from the three remaining laser cannons struck either the floor or the nearby wall directly behind with each step she took. She finally leapt into the inlet, joining Peter, as the last shot stuck the nearby wall. It hit something powerful, because the resulting explosion was far bigger than what was normal, scattering debris everywhere.

Power all throughout the room suddenly flickered. The remaining bubbles of energy buzzed for a moment, trying to draw enough power to remain charged, but there simply wasn't enough to go around, and they finally shut off, allowing the remainder of the Cybersquad to drop to the floor. Matt and Inez quickly raced off, heading for the opposite side of the room where Lara and Alex had sought shelter, two of the laser cannons blasting holes in the floor where they had stood only moments earlier.

Digit took to the air, flying in-between two of the laser cannons, both of them trying to target the cybird. The cannons both simultaneously fired, both simultaneously missed as Digit flew between them, and both simultaneously hit each other, disable both of the cannons. That only left one cannon, which remained active long enough to shoot at Digit, before Peter popped out of his hiding spot and shot at it's exposed back, short-circuiting it.

A moment of stillness fell onto the room as it slowly began to dawn on everyone present on everything that had happened.

"You did it." Inez remarked as everyone regrouped at the exit.

"Thank us later." Alex said hurriedly, listening to the still droning alarms. "We still have to get out of here safely."

"And with all of these alarms going..." Matt began.

"...Doing that will be a whole lot harder, yes." Peter concluded.

"Where do we need to go?" Digit asked, as they stepped out into the hallway.

"To that green dome thing." Alex replied. "The ship we used to get here is parked there. With any luck, Hacker still doesn't know it's..."

He got no further, for Delete and Buzz suddenly came racing around the corner, laser pistols in hand. Alex and Peter fired at the robots, forcing the two to duck back around the corner. The Cybersquad then took over, leading the way down the opposite side of the hallway, Digit in the lead, who knew exactly where to go.

Buzz and Delete returned firing, their shots going wide of their targets, but close enough to tell the kids and cybird that there was still danger afoot.

From that point, it was a deadly game of chase through the complicated hallways of the Grim Wreaker, the Cybersquad and rescue party always staying one step ahead of the pursuing henchmen. Shots were constantly fired between the two, but because their was so much moving, all that were ever hit where the hallway walls, leaving scorch marks scattered everywhere.

Finally, Digit lead them back to the green dome, where the small lifeboat cybercraft was parked. He promptly jumped into it, taking the pilot's seat. The others were quick to follow, just barely being able to squeeze inside. Alex and Peter paused long enough to fire some shots from their pistols to keep Buzz and Delete at bay before they clambered inside, and the cybercraft took off.

There was very little room in the space for the craft, and it wasn't long before it was taking fire from Buzz and Delete's laser pistols. Digit knew time was short, so he began dropping the cybercraft down towards the only exit, which was through the green dome.

Only problem was that the dome was closed, blocking their path.

"Um, Digit, you need to..." Peter began to say, only to be cut off by an angry Digit.

"I know!" Digit exclaimed, typing in commands into the cybercraft's control panels. "I'm going to open it remotely!"

It was a tense few moments, and just when it looked like the dome would not open in time to allow the cybercraft out, it did, slowly sliding aside. It opened just enough for the cybercraft to exit the Grim Wreaker, and zoom out into open cyberspace.

"We did it!" Inez exclaimed.

"Not yet!" Alex corrected, who was watching the ship they had just escaped. "The Wreaker is pursuing!"

Sure enough, the ship was breaking Pompedoria orbit to chase after the little cybercraft, it's laser cannon lowering in preparation to fire.

"We need to get far, far, far away from here, fast!" Matt exclaimed.

"Here!" Lara said, handing Jackie her SKWAK pad. "Call Motherboard and ask for a portal!"

Jackie nodded, and quickly set about that task.

"Grim Wreaker firing!" Alex exclaimed.

Digit jerked the ship to the right, and the laser blast meant for them zoomed out into empty space.

"We've got a portal!" Jackie quickly announced.

And sure enough, a swirling mass of pinkish energy emerged before them. The ship zoomed straight into it just as the Wreaker fired once again. But the shot was too slow, for the portal closed before the shot even reached it...


	18. Safe and Sound

Last chapter, nice and quick, and a little corny, but I lacked ideas for making it better at the time. Scene is set for next Cybercahse fan-fic I have in line.

18.

Safe and Sound

As the cybercraft landed safely back in the hanger bay at Control Central, the seven companions climbed out of it, each congratulating each other on a job well done.

"Ha, we did it!" Inez exclaimed happily.

"Cut it kinda close, though." Peter remarked idly

"But we still made it." Digit pointed out. "Alive and well, with no injuries."

"Well, I don't know about that, I broke a nail at some point during all of that." Jackie remarked, studying the broken nail.

The others laughed.

"You'll live Jax." Matt remarked, patting her on the back.

"Wow, what an adventure." Alex remarked. "Is it always like this around here?"

"Usually." Inez replied. "Sometimes it's even more exciting."

"And deadly?" Peter asked.

"Well, yes." Matt admitted.

"Peter, is that all you can think about? How close we came to failing?" Lara asked, annoyed.

"No, I'm also thinking about how glad I am to be here safe and sound, and that I'll be heading home soon." Peter replied. "Somehow that project we were working on will seem quite relaxing after all of this."

"Which reminds me." Alex said. "How much time _has _passed since then? I've no doubt missed all of my remaining classes for the day."

"Actually, you haven't." Inez said. "Time hardly passes in the Real World while you're in Cyberspace. You could be here for days on end while only a minute or so has passed in the Real World."

"Cool." Lara remarked.

"That explains how you guys can keep this a secret." Alex remarked thoughtfully. "You're never gone long enough for anybody to notice you're missing."

"In a sense, yes." Matt replied. "It's not always that easy, though."

"I'll bet." Peter said. "No doubt the temptation to tell somebody about this is huge."

"You have no idea." Jackie remarked.

The door leading out of the hanger bay suddenly opened, and Dr. Marbles walked in.

"You did it!" he cried. "You saved, Pompedoria, Cyberspace, and the Cybersquad!"

"All in one day?" Peter asked, surprised.

"Hey, we did do all of that, didn't we?" Alex said, feeling proud.

"You most certainly did." said Motherboard, as her face suddenly appeared on a nearby computer screen. "Cyberspace thanks you, all of you, and will forever be in your debt."

"Wow, that's...er...quite a thing to say." Alex said. "An honor, even."

"You get used to it." Matt said to him.

"So, now what?" Lara asked. "Do we just go home now, and call it a day."

"Yes." Motherboard replied.

"The situation is over for the moment." Marbles added. "But no doubt Hacker will be back to his old tricks in due time."

"And, as always, we'll be there to stop them." Matt said.

"All of us?" Peter asked.

"What do you mean?" Jackie asked.

"Well, uh, I was kinda, you know, hoping to...er...come back." Peter said, blushing.

Lara gasped. "Peter, you were the one who wanted no part of this!" she exclaimed. "Why the change of heart?"

"Well, you know me, once I warm up to something..." he said, still blushing in embarrassment. "Besides, it was kinda fun. But only a little."

"Of course." Matt remarked, smiling.

"Well, maybe the next time me, Matt, and Jackie all come here for some fun, you three can come along." Inez suggested.

"And, if we ever need help, you guys will be the first we ask." Jackie added. "You could be our backup squad, or something."

"I like that idea." Digit said, then turned to Motherboard and Marbles. "What do ya think, you two?"

"Fine with me." Marbles said. "They've proven that they are more than capable."

"They are welcome to come as often as they want." Motherboard added, agreeing. "But I think we've kept you all from home for long enough now. Until next time, then."

A portal then opened before them. The kids then said good bye to their cyborg friends, and left...

* * *

Elsewhere in Cyberspace, the Grim Wreaker journeyed onward, traveling on no particular path. Buzz and Delete had it on auto-pilot and were playing a game of cards while they waited for Hacker to give them further instructions. They did not need to wait long.

"Buzz, Delete!" Hacker yelled as he stepped onto the bridge of the ship. "Head the Wreaker for these coordinates."

He handed his two robotic henchmen a slip of paper. They both studied it for a moment.

"But boss," Buzz objected, "this is..."

"I know." Hacker interrupted.

"We thought..."

"I know."

"But the last time..."

"I know!" Hacker yelled. "Just head the ship in that direction!"

Buzz and Delete hurried to obey the order.

"But why there, boss?" Delete asked, puzzled.

"Because, I have a new plan, and a darn good one." Hacker replied. "And there is one object on that cybersite that I must have in order for it to work. It is so important, that it'll change this constant game of chase I've been playing with those Earth brats completely."

Hacker laughed evilly as the Grim Wreaker changed course to head for it's new destination...

* * *

And there you have it. More of Hacker's plan is revealed in the next fan-fic I'm going to write (entitled "Devil's Advocate") though not a whole much (the story really covers a more minor plan, the reasons why will be revealed in due time.) So, if you liked this fan-fic, you'll probably like the next one. Anyway, till next time! :)


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